Weekly Workout Thread 8th Jan till 14th Jan

[Dee*Jay]

No work out tonight, the happy hubby and I are going OUT. For some reason this has been a particularly trying week and I''m more than ready for a nice dinner. (Unfortunately I''m going to spend the long weekend in my office most of the time, but at least I can go out tonight!)

For lunch today I had grilled eggplant with a PILE of minced chicken and a few shrimp. I couldn''t really place the sauce on the chicken but it was very light and a little tangy and I hope it wasn''t too bad for me.

Aside from that and the oatmeal and coffee I really haven''t eaten anything else today. I will probably have a banana so that (a) I don''t have to carry it home (my purse is heavy enough already!) and (b) I won''t be starving before we go out. So, assuming I make a good choice tonight today hasn''t been too bad.

The happy hubby went shopping and got all the things for the pumpkin muffins so hopefully there will be some muffins in my future -- yum!

 

[KimberlyH]

Thanks for all of your kind words, everyone. My family is at peace with his passing. He had stopped living, in many senses of the word, a very long time ago. He spent his days pent up in an apartment not feeling very well and waiting for my mom to come over and occupy my grandmother to give him a break. My mom showed up and he was short of breath, he didn''t want to go to the hospital again, he died in the car on the way there. It was very quick and relatively painless and he''s in a much better place now. They''ve already founded an assisted living home for my grandmother and this means that my mom can actually have her life back, at least partially. She''s spent the last 8 years caring for them.

I''ve caught a cold, it''s in my throat, but I''m feeling okay, albeit a bit tired.

Eating has been difficult today, a friend made me a big breakfast and then out to lunch w/ someone else, I ate 1/2 a turkey sandwhich but it had mayo on it (I haven''t had mayo in goodness knows how long!) and lots of bread. Tonight we''re going to my favorite restaurant so it will be shrimp and salad. It''s just going to have to be my "bad" day I guess. It''s not a big deal in the grand scheme, but when one becomes accustomed to eating a certain way it''s hard to change that!

Everyone continues to do well, good for all of you!

~K

 

[Mara]

Okay so now that I am trying to MAINTAIN....I am totally confused. For the last X number of months, like 7 months, I have existed on a strict workout regime of like 4-6x a week burning anywhere from 2000-3200 cals per week. Eating anywhere from 1300-1700 calories a day as a goal. Some days are up and some are down. So I''ve still been doing that for the most part. Cut workouts back to 4x a week and eating more like 1500-1600 cals per day with a few 1700-1800 on the weekends.

But I am still losing weight. I lost 2 lbs last week and last nite on the scale it went down another 2 lbs. So I''m about 133-134 right now. Honestly I am not WORRIED because my measurements are still basically the same except for a .5" diff on the hip (and honestly I''d love it if my hips went down another .5" or so...hee hee. They are still kind of padded!)...so it''s not like I am a size 0 or anything or bordering anything remotely scary. I look pretty buff and fit and I still have a wee tiny belly so there''s still some nice fat going on. I probably could even lose another 1-2 lbs and look the same for the most part.

However, I really want to figure out how to stabilize my calories in and out so that I can re-learn how to eat and workout now that I want to maintain and not lose anymore. So I obviously need to either eat more or workout less. I''m having problems with both mentally. For the last X months I have done this routine and I really like it. I don''t WANT to change it!! I like working out and I like not eating too much. So what to do??

I spent some time online trying to find out what my required caloric intake might be for my age, height, weight, BMI, body fat % combined with my activity level...but honestly it seems like all the calculators are all over the place!! Some say similar things and others say things that seem way off to me. One calculator said to MAINTAIN where I am at now with not even working out at all, I should be consuming 1950 cals a day. Which is a TON to me. Another calc said the same thing. If I want to add 30 minutes of workouts a day in then I should be eating more like 2150 a day. Most of the calcs said about 1800-2000 cals a day for me to maintain, but their activity levels were all over the place. One website defined ''light activity'' as doing something energetic for an hour a day! Another one had ''light activity'' as ''doing something active for 30 minutes a day''. So am I light or moderate.

It''s all just so confusing. And I am not sure any PS''ers or WWT''ers can really help me but if anyone has insight as to how to figure out the CORRECT amount of calories I should be consuming and still workout like 3-4x a week for an hour....please tell me. At this point, I am just going to try to slowly add in about another 100 cals per day (aka an extra piece of fruit or a 100 cal balance bar etc) to eat more like 1600-1700 and see if that helps at all. I really don''t feel like just consuming an extra 200-300 cals a day to see if it works. As I don''t want to GAIN. I just want to maintain.

I wonder if maybe a trainer at my gym can help me figure it out or something. The thing is I just don''t want to be wrong and gain back 2-3 lbs or something after I worked so hard to lose it. I want to know the right recipe to stay where I am. Why can''t it be easier?!

 

[CrownJewel]

Hey Mara,
Maybe one of the health practitioners on here might know better than me, but a long time ago, I was working out with this trainer who would calculate my BMI, fat % and muscle %. At two of my weigh ins, she told me that I was working out too hard and burning muscle in addition to fat when doing cardio. It totally didn''t make sense to me, and now as a premed student, I''m trying to understand why she said that. How does one burn muscle by working out too hard? I figure that the trainer was a professional and she knows more about this than me. She said the way to combat burning muscle while working out is to check my peak heart rate. She said I needed to stay within a certain range. Maybe you can ask a trainer at your gym about this and how to figure out the optimal range for your heart rate.

The reason why I am mentioning this to you is because it would make sense if you were gaining weight since you said you are doing weight training. The more muscle you build and tone, the more muscle replaces fat. Muscle weighs significantly more than fat. Since you are weight training and still losing weight, I''m guessing you might be burning muscle, if that''s possible.

The other idea I have is that you say you eat between 1300 and 1700 calories a day. If you are burning 600 calories a day that leaves you with 700 to 1100 calories for metabolic processes. I''ve heard that the average person requires 1200 calories a day for breathing, standing, walking, talking, etc. Therefore I would guess that you might need to eat more. However, you haven''t reported any sort of dizziness or weakness or fatigue. That''s a good thing. If you were tired and weak, that would definitely mean you are not eating enough.

So my conclusion is you''re eating enough, but you might be working out too hard doing cardio. But I''m not a doctor yet, so I hope some real medical experts can chime in and tell me whether or not everything I said is a load of crap.

 

[Rod]

Date: 1/12/2007 1:36:25 AM
Author: TravelingGal
Alright, you guys have me thinking I need to make muffins...but I don''t own a muffin pan (I like to cook, but don''t bake). How hard can it be?

I am thinking of getting a 9x13 pyrex...I also need a dish that size to make a yummy dessert called ''hedgehog'' (I think it''s an aussie or english thing). However that is going to have to wait, as hedgehogs aren''t really diet food and I can''t just eat one.

I think Mara is right...practice makes perfect on this lasagna. it was the first time I made lasagna of any kind, so I don''t think it came out bad considering. I have a very good idea how to get it just right next time.

Rod inspired me, and although I couldn''t do 2 hours at the gym, I did do about an hour and a half, burning between 700-750 calories. That extra piece of lasagna tonight scared me into it as well!

It''s Friday tomorrow everyone, yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!

You go Girl!!!!!! Glad I offered you some inspiration!!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 1/12/2007 9:12:43 AM
Author: Dee*Jay

Date: 1/12/2007 3:56:50 AM
Author: Lorelei


Dee I am howling here - especially the bit about the DD hopefully not minding the noise!!

Well the US cleaner made The Demon a little crazy at first so I can only imagine what a *magic bullet* might do to him, LOL!

Today I'm having coffee (w/ real milk) and 1/2 cup oatmeal for breakfast. The happy hubby and I typically go out to dinner on Friday nights but I just looked at my calendar and I'm supposed to have lunch with someone today too. We usually go to a Thai restaurant -- what are my lowest cal Thai options? I used to get the lard nar but I'm sure that's way out of the ballpark. Maybe a soup dish with noodles? Help me here!

Rod, any news from the developer on the condo?

Yes and no, but no real deicison. Our realtor had a meeting with the developer and his son at 4:30. It didn't go well. First they weren't prepared and had nothing written down. Then the developer (the father) and son, began arguing over not being prepared and they then starting putting prices on a piece of paper and when the son supposedly just said, let's accept the offer as is and the father said they couldn't afford all the upgrades we requested, they realized they looked somewhat foolish and suggested they have something more formal prepared for a meeting Monday morning. So, we're supposed to hear something Monday. One of the things they did mention was perhaps we might like to move in the condo prior to closing and they would let us live there for the amount of money we're currently paying for a crappy apartment. We'd absolutely jump at that idea. I guess we'll learn more Monday. We really had hoped to have this resolved by now, but things just seem to move much slower in NC. Oh well...........

Thanks for asking!!

 

[Rod]

Date: 1/12/2007 10:54:25 AM
Author: ellaila
So sorry to hear about your grandfather, Kimberly - my condolences.

Please accept mine as well..........

 

[mrchips]

Date: 1/12/2007 6:39:46 PM
Author: Mara
Okay so now that I am trying to MAINTAIN....I am totally confused. For the last X number of months, like 7 months, I have existed on a strict workout regime of like 4-6x a week burning anywhere from 2000-3200 cals per week. Eating anywhere from 1300-1700 calories a day as a goal. Some days are up and some are down. So I''ve still been doing that for the most part. Cut workouts back to 4x a week and eating more like 1500-1600 cals per day with a few 1700-1800 on the weekends.


But I am still losing weight. I lost 2 lbs last week and last nite on the scale it went down another 2 lbs. So I''m about 133-134 right now. Honestly I am not WORRIED because my measurements are still basically the same except for a .5'' diff on the hip (and honestly I''d love it if my hips went down another .5'' or so...hee hee. They are still kind of padded!)...so it''s not like I am a size 0 or anything or bordering anything remotely scary. I look pretty buff and fit and I still have a wee tiny belly so there''s still some nice fat going on. I probably could even lose another 1-2 lbs and look the same for the most part.


However, I really want to figure out how to stabilize my calories in and out so that I can re-learn how to eat and workout now that I want to maintain and not lose anymore. So I obviously need to either eat more or workout less. I''m having problems with both mentally. For the last X months I have done this routine and I really like it. I don''t WANT to change it!! I like working out and I like not eating too much. So what to do??


I spent some time online trying to find out what my required caloric intake might be for my age, height, weight, BMI, body fat % combined with my activity level...but honestly it seems like all the calculators are all over the place!! Some say similar things and others say things that seem way off to me. One calculator said to MAINTAIN where I am at now with not even working out at all, I should be consuming 1950 cals a day. Which is a TON to me. Another calc said the same thing. If I want to add 30 minutes of workouts a day in then I should be eating more like 2150 a day. Most of the calcs said about 1800-2000 cals a day for me to maintain, but their activity levels were all over the place. One website defined ''light activity'' as doing something energetic for an hour a day! Another one had ''light activity'' as ''doing something active for 30 minutes a day''. So am I light or moderate.


It''s all just so confusing. And I am not sure any PS''ers or WWT''ers can really help me but if anyone has insight as to how to figure out the CORRECT amount of calories I should be consuming and still workout like 3-4x a week for an hour....please tell me. At this point, I am just going to try to slowly add in about another 100 cals per day (aka an extra piece of fruit or a 100 cal balance bar etc) to eat more like 1600-1700 and see if that helps at all. I really don''t feel like just consuming an extra 200-300 cals a day to see if it works. As I don''t want to GAIN. I just want to maintain.


I wonder if maybe a trainer at my gym can help me figure it out or something. The thing is I just don''t want to be wrong and gain back 2-3 lbs or something after I worked so hard to lose it. I want to know the right recipe to stay where I am. Why can''t it be easier?!

okay Mara i got some insight for you.

first, the reason why you''re still losing weight is because your metabolism has been sped up b/c of your strict regime. you now have more muscle on your body and so that alone will burn calories without you doing anything. don''t worry about this. eat a little more. fill yourself up with say this. 1/2 cup of fibre (cereal), small bannana, 1 cup of egg whites and some water and possibly a scoop of protein powder if you use it, in a blender. have that for a snack or meal. it''ll fill you up, has essentials foods.

for your calorie count, the 1950 doesn''t seem to high at all if you''re doing weights and cardio. and remember, if you go online and use one of the calorie burning counters, those are just estimates b/c it can''t really take into effect your muscle % etc...

but really 1950 calories with the proper foods will all be used and burned and not be excess weight if you''re doing things right and eating at PROPER TIMES.

need some more help. use this GREAT SITE: http://www.fitday.com/

that site is awesome.

1. ITs free. you just register
2. it gives you calories for foods you input.

it takes a bit to set up but once you got your foods you eat most often inputed its a breeze. at first i thought it was a pain but not anymore and it can really show you where you''re getting your carbs, fats, protien from. check it.

consider this. that you might want to get yourself Omega-3-6-9 or Flax Seed pills or the oil. Omega 3-6-9 are really good fats. as i''ve said, taking your daily serving of pills which is 12 can lead to an extra 400 calories being burned and you putting in good fats and helping break the bad fats down. it can help with a variety of other things as well. Omega 3-6-9 is an ideally balanced, full-spectrum source of these three “good fats”. By utilizing high potency Omega-3 from flaxseed and canola, Omega-6 from primrose and black currant and Omega-9 (or Oleic acid, a non-essential fatty acid) from Canola and Flax, this formula helps correct this common imbalance, while minimizing any chance of reoccurring reverse imbalances.

so as i said you can burn an extra or up to an extra 400 calories. so say you''re eating 1950 calories or even as said 2150 that''s nothing. you got your calories burned from your cardio session and weights and from your work (career) you should have no worries. think about it, even if say you eat 2000 calories and you burn 200 from the oils, you''re at 1800 without you''re workouts and work. then after a week or two, just tweak little things that''ll help you.

your current workout at 3-4x a week is good enough. i''d stick more to say 4 times a week. probably going monday tuesday thursday, saturday. this way this is no real break between workouts. see where i''m going with this.

then lift weights. light weights. but enough weight that adds resistance to you. do not use machines if you can. only if you have to the individual dumbells will burn way more calories, will pull more muscles and muscle fiber into action and will help you and your core with benefit from it. plus the more muscle you have the more calories you burn doing everyday things such as sitting down, laundry, cooking, working etc...

add two or three cardio sessions in those workouts. do 30 minutes walking UP HILL on the treadmill or run for 30 minutes outside. outside is a lot harder b/c of the elements. when on the treadmill don''t use a flat terrain. crank it up to 15%. you have to work up to that incline. trust me, you''ll sweat and feel the burn in your legs, your rear, which will be good for that .5 decrease you want in your hips.

so a typical workout would be.

Monday - Arms (biceps/triceps/abs) and cardio
Tuesday - Chest, Back and abs
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - Legs, Shoulders, and cardio
Saturday - Arms (biceps/triceps/abs) and cardio
Sunday - OFF

that''s how i would train if i were you to maintain. and since you just want to maintain your weight.

keep your rep range at about 12-15 and use lighter weights and slow down the motion.

remember, MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT. it is just a number.

that''s what i tell them all.

let me know what you think. we can work at tweaking it. remember its gotta work with YOU not me.

 

[Rod]

Happy Friday Everyone,

I guess you read above about the continuing saga of trying to get a completed contract on the condo. I''m guessing we''ll get there someday.

Otherwise, it was a really good day. Work was great. The president of our company came in my office and told me he was absolutely thrilled with my performance and commented he wished his other managers were performing at my level. Not that I''m trying to look beter than other''s in my office, because I''m not. But I have a lot of experience and they really needed my help. It''s just nice to know he notices the value I''ve brought to the table. I am truly happy in my new job. It was a major thing to leave our beautiful condo in Tampa and move to Raleigh, but I''m so glad we made the decision to come here.

Then I got to meet Charlie for lunch, which was fun. We took a bit longer lunch and went to Starbucks afterwards and had a cup of coffee and scone. I do treat myself to scones these days and so far, with the extreme amounts of exercise I do, no weight has come on, so as long as I continue to workout hard, I feel OK about the indulges!!

Then, we met at the Mercedes dealer to take deliver of my new E350. The delivery was smooth and professional. Having bought a lot of new Mercedes over the years, I was very pleased to have a new dealer I feel I can feel confident in. And my new car is simply terrific. After driving an SL for the last couple of years, it was really nice to drive to dinner in something so quiet and comfortable.

Then we went to our favorite Sushi place and had a great dinner. Of course we didn''t work out, because it''s Friday, but tomorrow, it''s back to the gym both Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise, those indulgent scones would start to show and we can not have that.......

I also want to know where Jeff is?? Oh Jeff......where are you??

Hope everyone is looking forward to a great and healthy weekend!

 

[Rod]

Date: 1/12/2007 10:42:18 PM
Author: mrchips

Date: 1/12/2007 6:39:46 PM
Author: Mara
Okay so now that I am trying to MAINTAIN....I am totally confused. For the last X number of months, like 7 months, I have existed on a strict workout regime of like 4-6x a week burning anywhere from 2000-3200 cals per week. Eating anywhere from 1300-1700 calories a day as a goal. Some days are up and some are down. So I''ve still been doing that for the most part. Cut workouts back to 4x a week and eating more like 1500-1600 cals per day with a few 1700-1800 on the weekends.


But I am still losing weight. I lost 2 lbs last week and last nite on the scale it went down another 2 lbs. So I''m about 133-134 right now. Honestly I am not WORRIED because my measurements are still basically the same except for a .5'' diff on the hip (and honestly I''d love it if my hips went down another .5'' or so...hee hee. They are still kind of padded!)...so it''s not like I am a size 0 or anything or bordering anything remotely scary. I look pretty buff and fit and I still have a wee tiny belly so there''s still some nice fat going on. I probably could even lose another 1-2 lbs and look the same for the most part.


However, I really want to figure out how to stabilize my calories in and out so that I can re-learn how to eat and workout now that I want to maintain and not lose anymore. So I obviously need to either eat more or workout less. I''m having problems with both mentally. For the last X months I have done this routine and I really like it. I don''t WANT to change it!! I like working out and I like not eating too much. So what to do??


I spent some time online trying to find out what my required caloric intake might be for my age, height, weight, BMI, body fat % combined with my activity level...but honestly it seems like all the calculators are all over the place!! Some say similar things and others say things that seem way off to me. One calculator said to MAINTAIN where I am at now with not even working out at all, I should be consuming 1950 cals a day. Which is a TON to me. Another calc said the same thing. If I want to add 30 minutes of workouts a day in then I should be eating more like 2150 a day. Most of the calcs said about 1800-2000 cals a day for me to maintain, but their activity levels were all over the place. One website defined ''light activity'' as doing something energetic for an hour a day! Another one had ''light activity'' as ''doing something active for 30 minutes a day''. So am I light or moderate.


It''s all just so confusing. And I am not sure any PS''ers or WWT''ers can really help me but if anyone has insight as to how to figure out the CORRECT amount of calories I should be consuming and still workout like 3-4x a week for an hour....please tell me. At this point, I am just going to try to slowly add in about another 100 cals per day (aka an extra piece of fruit or a 100 cal balance bar etc) to eat more like 1600-1700 and see if that helps at all. I really don''t feel like just consuming an extra 200-300 cals a day to see if it works. As I don''t want to GAIN. I just want to maintain.


I wonder if maybe a trainer at my gym can help me figure it out or something. The thing is I just don''t want to be wrong and gain back 2-3 lbs or something after I worked so hard to lose it. I want to know the right recipe to stay where I am. Why can''t it be easier?!

okay Mara i got some insight for you.

first, the reason why you''re still losing weight is because your metabolism has been sped up b/c of your strict regime. you now have more muscle on your body and so that alone will burn calories without you doing anything. don''t worry about this. eat a little more. fill yourself up with say this. 1/2 cup of fibre (cereal), small bannana, 1 cup of egg whites and some water and possibly a scoop of protein powder if you use it, in a blender. have that for a snack or meal. it''ll fill you up, has essentials foods.

for your calorie count, the 1950 doesn''t seem to high at all if you''re doing weights and cardio. and remember, if you go online and use one of the calorie burning counters, those are just estimates b/c it can''t really take into effect your muscle % etc...

but really 1950 calories with the proper foods will all be used and burned and not be excess weight if you''re doing things right and eating at PROPER TIMES.

need some more help. use this GREAT SITE: http://www.fitday.com/

that site is awesome.

1. ITs free. you just register
2. it gives you calories for foods you input.

it takes a bit to set up but once you got your foods you eat most often inputed its a breeze. at first i thought it was a pain but not anymore and it can really show you where you''re getting your carbs, fats, protien from. check it.

consider this. that you might want to get yourself Omega-3-6-9 or Flax Seed pills or the oil. Omega 3-6-9 are really good fats. as i''ve said, taking your daily serving of pills which is 12 can lead to an extra 400 calories being burned and you putting in good fats and helping break the bad fats down. it can help with a variety of other things as well. Omega 3-6-9 is an ideally balanced, full-spectrum source of these three “good fats”. By utilizing high potency Omega-3 from flaxseed and canola, Omega-6 from primrose and black currant and Omega-9 (or Oleic acid, a non-essential fatty acid) from Canola and Flax, this formula helps correct this common imbalance, while minimizing any chance of reoccurring reverse imbalances.

so as i said you can burn an extra or up to an extra 400 calories. so say you''re eating 1950 calories or even as said 2150 that''s nothing. you got your calories burned from your cardio session and weights and from your work (career) you should have no worries. think about it, even if say you eat 2000 calories and you burn 200 from the oils, you''re at 1800 without you''re workouts and work. then after a week or two, just tweak little things that''ll help you.

your current workout at 3-4x a week is good enough. i''d stick more to say 4 times a week. probably going monday tuesday thursday, saturday. this way this is no real break between workouts. see where i''m going with this.

then lift weights. light weights. but enough weight that adds resistance to you. do not use machines if you can. only if you have to the individual dumbells will burn way more calories, will pull more muscles and muscle fiber into action and will help you and your core with benefit from it. plus the more muscle you have the more calories you burn doing everyday things such as sitting down, laundry, cooking, working etc...

add two or three cardio sessions in those workouts. do 30 minutes walking UP HILL on the treadmill or run for 30 minutes outside. outside is a lot harder b/c of the elements. when on the treadmill don''t use a flat terrain. crank it up to 15%. you have to work up to that incline. trust me, you''ll sweat and feel the burn in your legs, your rear, which will be good for that .5 decrease you want in your hips.

so a typical workout would be.

Monday - Arms (biceps/triceps/abs) and cardio
Tuesday - Chest, Back and abs
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - Legs, Shoulders, and cardio
Saturday - Arms (biceps/triceps/abs) and cardio
Sunday - OFF

that''s how i would train if i were you to maintain. and since you just want to maintain your weight.

keep your rep range at about 12-15 and use lighter weights and slow down the motion.

remember, MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT. it is just a number.

that''s what i tell them all.

let me know what you think. we can work at tweaking it. remember its gotta work with YOU not me.

Hey Mr. Chips, if your a guy, WELCOME!! That makes three of us guys here. And not that Jeff and I don''t love our ladies, we most certainly do, but we''ve been hopeful another guy would join us. So, a great big hello from Rod.

 

[Mara]

hi mr chips...welcome to the WWT. i realize you don't really know my history, and what said makes sense, but i pretty much already do everything you mentioned in your post. the one thing i don't do is take vitamins or supplements etc. i don't really need the supplements nor do i really want to burn any more calories than i already do. i should take vitamins but i am so bad about that. i end up typically just taking airborne or eating a luna bar that has extra vitamins in it. i am actually very familiar with fitday.com and also sparkpeople.com and i use calorie-count.com as well for finding out what i am eating.

in any case, i already do cardio a few times a week, i mix it up, i go for walks, do treadmill and elliptical, i also already lift weights 3x a week. i used to to the gym to do my workouts 6x a week but i have cut back to 4x...3x on busy weeks. i already eat very healthily, i eat a ton of the right foods and right oils and fiber and all that. i am the queen of fiber and eating what is right for me ... lol. i also already know my body fat, and know that i have a ton of muscle that i probably didn't have before. so yes my body could be a much more efficient fuel burning machine than it was originally, i wouldn't be surprised!

i know that the online calculators are just estimates, which is what is so frustrating. i want something definitive to say 'hey, you, mara, you need to eat XYZ cals per day and do XYZ workouts per week and this will maintain what you have now'. of course it's just flat out not that easy. and since each calculator is different, it seems really hard to know what to eat. i don't want to overshoot or undershoot obviously.

in any case...i will add another snack in and try to get to around 1700-1800 cals per day and keep my workouts at 4x a week (once i am back in the saddle from this lower abdominal strain) and see what happens with my weight. i am not worried about losing muscle because i know with my workout regime and my weight training regime that i will probably just keep adding muscle. it's just hard to mentally kind of back off from what i have been doing for months to think 'okay now it's time to do something different'. mentally it's hard to get my brain around it!

cj...re: the burning of muscle, i used to wear a HRM so i know where my heart rate is and i know what range it's supposed to be in and typically i don't work out hard enough to be out of range aka burning muscle. so i don't think that's the case, though what you said makes a ton of sense...but i don't think that i am working out that hard. i just think i have to fine tune things to try to get to the right balance, what is just frustrating is there is no cut and dry plan.

in any case, when i got home from work i had a snack of oatmeal mixed with some brown sugar and maple, and then had 1/2 a buttermilk berry muffin (SO yum)...and then just got back from dinner with my parents since greg has rehearsal tonite...we ate at this fave mexican place that i haven't been to in forever! we used to go once a week. it's awesome food but mexican isn't exactly super healthy for you in general, lol. so i ended up having a taco salad and having the guac and sc on the side and just using a bit of each...put extra salsa on it and ate like 1/8 of the shell because i read how bad the shells are for you! their food is awesome so it was really good. and i asked them if they made their beans in lard and they said no way, they used olive oil. hehe. my family goes there all the time so they totally know us. in any case...i had a few nachos to begin with but iced tea to drink. and i used to have 2 guava margaritas when i went there, to the tune of what? 700-800 cals each? eeee!!! ever since i found that out i don't think i've had another margarita! hehee.

tomorrow i am meeting some friends for lunch and shopping...and then we're going to dinner tomorrow night at our fave mexi place with some friends. so looking fwd to that. anyhow hope everyone has a fabulous weekend day tomorrow!!

 

[Lorelei]

Yep - good to have you here MrChips, I know Rod and Jeff will so appreciate it too!!! I hope you stick around and I look forward to reading your posts!

I did half an hour on the treadmill yesterday, Hubby has just bought some temporary weights so we can make a start with the new gym, I was just trying out butterflies!

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Hi everyone

Sorry for not checking in but January is an appraiser''s busiest month. 12-14 hour days.

But you''ll be happy to know that i''m still squeezing in my workouts and jujitsu.

And eating right too.

Thanks for asking about me!

 

[Lorelei]

Glad you checked in Jeff

 

[Dee*Jay]

I think the whole world conspires against you when you''re trying to eat healty! We went to a French restaurant last night and I scoured the menu for what I thought were good choices. I ordered the grilled shrimp appatizer (which came wrapped around little rounds of sausage and on a bed of butter soaked cous cous

) and my herb crusted shrimp came with lentils that were delicious--because there was some bacon fat in there somewhere (

again). The dessert menu came around and I realized the only thing I wanted was a piece of the crusty Frency bread (I hadn''t had any at the beginning of the meal) with a little butter so that''s what I had. Oh well, it was a *French* restaurant; what did I expect?

Right now I''m having 1/2 cup oatmeal and as soon as that settles I''m headed to the gym for an hour on the eliptical. I''m having lunch with a girlfriend, but she''s doing Weight Watchers so it won''t be hard to convince her to go somewhere where there are good choices available. And the happy hubby is grilling swordfish tonight, so today should be pretty good all around, and there''s lots of fruit in the house for snacking.

Rod, your condo situation sounds... *interesting*. Especially the part about offering to let you move in before closing. Hmmm, they must do things different down there in the south that up here in cold hearted Yankee land!

(Seriously, just hang in there and everything will work itself out.)

 

[Dee*Jay]

Ok, now I am back from the gym, and guess what I noticed today on the eliptical?

LESS A$$ WOBBLE

What's that line from Steel Magnolias? Some woman's butt under her dress looked like two puppies having a fight under a blanket?

Don't get me wrong, there is still one mighty big litter of pups having a disagreement inside my workout pants, but at least their squabble is less ferocious than it was a month ago!

 

[Mara]

lol DJ i love that line in SM...something about ''her a$$ looks like two pigs fighting under a blanket''...hehee.

fabulous progress on less wobble, hahah.

lol i cannot keep my paws off of these berry muffins!! i had another one last nite before going to bed. so yummy. i haven''t had any today...but see this is why i don''t make these things on thursday nights, so i am not in the house with them all weekend, staring at me, haha. in any case there are like 8 left. i am sure we will polish off most of them before monday, haha. at least they are only 160 cals each.

so far just had my morning cereal...off to have lunch and shop with some friends...then meet some other friends for dinner. other than that it''s rest for me today, my stomach always feels best in the mornings because it likes when i lay down at night and relax...so hopefully i can get an hour or two of prone in front of the couch time this afternoon to let it continue to heal.

and man can i just say how FRIGGIN COLD it''s been here?? last nite was 22! today is supposed to be like 50 which is fine but there is still a serious chill in the air. tonite is supposed to be like 28 or something almost as insane as last nite. it makes you not want to leave the house!!

hope all have a great day. OH and come on people, get to posting in the healthy recipe thread, so far it''s like all me and one recipe from 2 others. (giada that taco recipe looks yummy)....so chop chop. i need to expand my repoitoire, gimme some ideas! hehe.

 

[sumbride]

I got up to 40 minutes on the elliptical this morning and felt really good! The gym looked a lot less crowded, but maybe because there were about 150 people doing the "Body Attack" class on the basketball court. They were dancing around in circles and it looked kind of fun, but I don''t think I''m ready for that just yet. At least it left more machines open!

We ordered in Chinese last night as a bit of a treat, but I went for the pork with black bean sauce which was mostly veggies. I love chicken with black bean sauce at PF Changs, but this particular place deep fries their chicken before adding the relatively healthy sauce, so I went for the pork instead, which was thin, unfried(!) slices of pork. Quite good actually. So I feel like I did ok.

I''m really enjoying the SparkPeople site! The food log actually has products by name brand so when I typed in my yogurt, it found it without me having to guess at calories. And it''s free. Amazing!

 

[jadeleaves]

Yesterday most of my planned meals went out the window. Firstly, lunch became pumpkin soup with a bread roll (hubby wanted soup instead of banana bread), and dinner became Chinese at a restaurant near our new house because we had guests in the afternoon and by the time we got out to look at the new house and went for a walk, it was dinner time and we were starving, so went to the chinese restaurant instead. I did pick a beef with chinese broccoli dish, so it wasn''t too bad calories wise (i think), but I had a couple of deep fried king prawns too, with a slice of pork belly (minus the fat). I also had some of the yummy artichoke dip (mara''s recipe).

It''s sunday morning now, and I just had my 2 weetbix with half a banana and raspberries/blueberries and a cup of black tea. We are going to a bbq today, and I will prob have a scotch fillet and some potato salad I made yday. I''ll snack on some fruit before we go so I am not tempted by the fatty bbq sausages.

Dinner tonight will be the tuna we were going to have last night. No workout planned today, I''m taking it easy and aiming for 3 sessions of cardio and 2 sessions of weights plus a yoga class a wk so I don''t burnout like I usually do because I *hate* exercise and need to get rid of that mindset. Hence, I''m trying to do it at my own pace and doing things I enjoy. It''s all about positive association!

Have a good one everyone!

 

[ellaila]

Date: 1/12/2007 4:47:41 PM
Author: Mara
here's my new acquisition...the small square baker....hehee. i guess $6 each instead of $4. woopsie. super cute tho. and i can serve salsa or olives or whatever in them besides the pot pie. i could even do mini mac and cheese portions for us too. i already have a few other rectangular and square bakers in this collection so they all match. they are great for entertaining. how cute will the CPP's be in these?! hehe.

Yes, you will have the cutest potpies on the block, for sure

So the lasagna last night was a huge hit -- and if it's going to be even better tonight (tomorrow, Monday, etc.), then YAY!!

For some reason, I keep thinking about zucchini, so I think next time I may throw some zucchini slices in there along w/the mushrooms. I'm horrible about making veggies, so this may be a good way for me to get some in!

JadeLeaves, your little Button is just a doll!!

 

[Mara]

so i met up with some girlfriends for food and shopping this morning...we ended up at the cutest place that served breakfast all day but lunch too. we ended up sharing a bunch of things (oatmeal pancakes, egg white scramble with potatoes and wheat toast, chicken salad sandwich), but the famous thing there i guess is their oatmeal pancakes. okay...these things were TO DIE FOR. you can practically feel them expanding in your mouth as you chew, lots of fiber, and they taste so good. best part is they sell the mix so i bought a bag. they are lowfat swedish oatmeal pancakes, and the instructions are to use low-fat buttermilk, egg whites and margarine''/butter. awesome! so the gal said that is what they use to make them, so i wonder if they make them with lf buttermilk and egg whites etc too. kinda cool. anyway, i can''t wait to make these tomorrow. i was going to make the whey protein ones but those will have to wait now.

i was thinking of going for a walk today depending on how i felt but we walked around for about 3 hours so i guess that was enough. best part is that i don''t feel any stomach discomfort really when walking. so i should be able to take a long walk tomorrow and be okay with how i feel. hopefully by monday i can hit the gym even just for 30 minutes or so. when i got home i ate a berry buttermilk muffin (YUM...i see there are only 5 left so i think greg may have snacked on 1-2 today while i was gone!) and then we are going to dinner in a few hours, so i can''t WAIT to have some chinese chicken salad!!!

if these oatmeal pancakes work out i will try to find a recipe online that we can test at some point so i can add it to the healthy thread. i personally LOVE breakfast so the idea of finding things that are seriously yum that are good for me is so fun. the egg white scramble i had today had black olives, some cheddar, green onions and a peppery salsa...SUPER yummy. i might try that at home soon!

i think it might be naptime...zzz!!

hope everyone is having a fabulous day.

 

[KimberlyH]

Happy weekend all!

Mara, I''ll get to posting recipes now that I am home, I promise!

I''m sick, I''ve caught a cold and am feeling exhausted and yucky; I''ve lost my voice and am coughing like crazy. We won''t be going to my parents tomorrow but I doubt I''ll exercise either as I just want to curl up and do nothing until I feel better.

I did okay eating away from home, didn''t have much at all today. As I mentioned yesterday was a splurge day, but it wasn''t out of control eating, just more than I would normally have.

I''m going to make friends with my couch. Hubby is making me pasta for dinner, yum!

 

[sumbride]

Oh Kimberly, you''re having a rough week, aren''t you?!! I hope you feel better soon! And good for hubby for cooking for you!

Ok, I just had to share... looked at my meal plan on spark people for tomorrow and as part of both lunch and dinner, it includes "oreo cookie, 1 cookie". Yeah, right. As if I could eat just ONE oreo and be satisfied. As if I''d even allow a package of oreos in the house!!! While I love that they don''t exclude such things completely, I find it extremely optomistic that I could add oreos into a healthy eating plan! I don''t think it''s going to happen soon.

 

[Mara]

lol sumbride, no way could i eat one oreo either. more like 10. they are hands down my fave cookie ever. double stuff!!

kimberly sorry to hear you are feeling really blue....feel better soon!!

we''re off to dinner, chinese chicken salad here i come!

 

[bee*]

Kimberley: I hope that you feel better soon!
Mara: Im dying to try and bake some of those berry muffins. They sound delicious!
Sumbride: 40 mins is great on the trainer! Im trying to work my way up to that.
Weekend hasnt been too bad. I was working in the spca this weekend so lots of walking and carrying things. I had my usual crunchy nut cornflakes for breakfast yesterday and this morning. Yesterday for lunch I had hummus with 2 ryvita crackers and a couple of apples for snacks through out the day.
I went to the gym yesterday and did 30 mins on the cross-trainer. I was so happy that I lasted that long as when I went on wednesday I couldnt do longer than 5 mins. I did some weights and sit ups and then I ran for 10 mins on the threadmill so I burnt 570 calories altogether. D and I went to our friends house last night but I drove so I didnt touch any alcohol. I had a couple of Pringles and that was it so I was very proud of the restraint I showed as I was dying to tuck into the whole tube of them!
Heading to D''s cousins house for lunch in a few minutes so Im starving and trying not to raid the fridge.
Hope everyones having a great weekend

 

[Lorelei]

Yuck...felt sick last night - was bad and had a vegeburger, cheese sticks and fries which I dipped in mayo

Serves me right, but I won''t be doing that again and plan on a jolly good workout later

 

[KimberlyH]

I am having a bit of a rough week sumbride! It just seems like one thing after another! DH was sick at the beginning of the week, then Pop died now I''m sick. BUt lots of good things happened too. I got to go see a bunch of friends where I used to live including one who has a brand new, beautiful baby and the house we''ve had on the market forever went into escrow, so no complaints as it hasn''t been all bad just lots of life happening all at once!

Hope everyone has a great workout day. I am taking to the couch as I slept about 5 hours and am still feeling blech.

I gained 1.5 lbs while out of town, which is strange as I only had one splurge day but no biggy, just need to get back on track.

Have a fabulous day everyone.

Lorelei: I hope you are feeling better!!

 

[nejarb]

oreo cookie fans: I was flying on SWA recently, and in thier snack box there was a bag of 100 cal oreo "crisps." they were really good, tatsted like oreos.

So my plan was to go to the YMCA every mon-fri morning. I started this last monday. My guy got sick on wed and stayed home 2 days and I didn''t go on Wed or Thurs b/c I was "taking care" of him. He''s the kind of person who usu claims he isn''t sick even when he is, and always wants to be where he''s supposed to be, so I was shocked when he came home from work on wed morning after being there only 30 min. He let me leave to buy stuff to make him chicken soup, and then I had to stay to monitor his temp, feed him liquids, etc. If I had gone to the Y, I would have had to call a home nurse to come in, I swear. Is this normal adult behavior? It was pretty wierd.

But when I went to the Y on Friday, I spent extra time on ellip, and did more situps than usu. I also did yet another body fat test, this time w/ the callipers. So far, my home scale says 30%, the hand-held electric thing at Y says 23.8%, and the callipers say 28%. Leads me to believe these methods are all inaccurate. But then again, it''s useless information, and I''m just using it to monitor. So I may as well use the home scale for that and not harrass the nice people at the Y!

I realized that my diet is really healthy! I exceed the reccomended 5 servings of fruits and veg almost every day, and eat enough fiber, and good ratio of fat/protien/carb (maybe a little high on fat, but it''s largely olive oil/raw nuts). The only way I can loose weight is by exercising more and either (1) drinking less or (2) eating less bread. I don''t want to drink less, so I bought the bread Mara wrote about, the peperidge farms multigrain that''s 45 cal a slice. I think it''s just really small peices of bread. But that works for me, b/c if I eat other things, it''s just as well to have a small piece of bread or a small sandwich. usu I just want to have a piece of bread w/ my dinner. And the bread i usu eat is 120 cal/ slice and I put butter on it. w/ this new bread and smart balance light, it cuts off about 100 cal. That adds up. Plus my pb&j sandwich that I often eat for lunch (very immature, I know) was still enough, w/ banana that I would normally eat anyways.

I haven''t lost any weight yet, but it''s only been about a week. If I still haven''t lost any weight in a few weeks I may consider cutting out my nightly glass of wine.

 

[Mara]

lol nejarb...there's nothing that tastes 'like oreos' but OREOS. double stuff. baby. hehe.

kimberly hope you are feeling better!! oh and nejarb, your man sounds seriously HM! i think boys get a little whiny when sick but greg typically isn't that needy...!! i woulda been like here is some nyquil, take a nap and i'll be back in 2 hours!

so last nite we hit up the chinese food place, yum!! i had a big portion of chinese chicken salad, a cup of wonton soup, and then we all shared a few entreess, so honey walnut prawns with toasted walnuts (serious yum and not healthy with a creamy mayo sauce, hahaa), the typical 'tao tao beef' seasoned beef, and sweet and sour pork, with steamed rice. the funny thing is that it was just enough but not quite enough to make you full. portions were pretty tiny because there were 4 of us sharing 3 things. but the chicken salad definitely fills you up a bit. so we came back to our place and i made mexican hot chocolate and we cutup a few muffins and then we all played monopoly. the last two days i have definitely upped my calorie count to try to keep it higher so that i don't lose any more weight, keeping fingers crossed. i don't want to gain either so i do hate this inactivity i am forced into with my wounded stomach (which by the way feels better daily now that i am not working out)....so hopefully i will be able to get back to it in a few days and then slowly ramp up again.

this morning i made us the oatmeal pancakes, omg divine. i am in love. i had them with my fab josephs's syrup and i also scrambled a few egg whites with some green onions, tomato and cheese for us. i found a bunch of recipes online as well for the pancakes as well, so i can definitely make my own after the mix runs out. so jazzed, i love pancakes and oatmeal and now they are combined. could it be any better? really. and yesterday the one pancake i ate, with an egg white omelet and some home fries at 12 kept me full til 5! so these seem pretty packed with fiber and good stuff. hehe.

so today i would love to take a nice long walk, it's pretty chilly outside for us wimpy californians, something like 50 but at least it's sunny, so i am going to try to get greg to come out with me with P to go for a walk this afternoon. then tonite i'm making us chicken pot pies, woo hoo.

lorelei, don't feel bad about your splurge, it sounds yummy!! and a vege burger is probably way better for you than beef anyway, hehee. fries, yum!

bee you are doing great!! the berry muffins have been a huge hit, total success. hehe.

hope everyone has a wonderful sunday...!!

 

[Becky P]

Well, I''ve been MIA from this thread for a while now, but the Discovery Channel just started their 8 week body challenge yesterday. It''s just a challenge for people to be healthy, work out, etc, and it comes with a free 8 week membership to a Bally''s total fitness. So, I signed up online and registered for a Bally''s that''s about a 5 min drive from me. I worked out yesterday on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It''s been so long since I worked out that it was pretty hard, but I walked fast and ran as much as I could. In 30 minutes, I went 1.65 miles, and the calorie tracker said I burned 165 calories, but who knows how accurate that is. I was planning on going today, and I still might, but I caught a cold last Monday night (YES! Nearly a week ago) and am still not feeling better - the fever keeps coming and going, and the nose is running like a fire hydrant. So, I''m gonna get off my fanny here, run some errands and take my gym clothes with me so that I can even just get in for a quickie workout.